


Two Birds In A Nest

by cupcakesandfanfics



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Children, Fluff, Kid - Freeform, Kids, M/M, Toddler, kid larry, larry - Freeform, larry stylinson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-03-23
Packaged: 2018-01-16 18:59:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1358392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cupcakesandfanfics/pseuds/cupcakesandfanfics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a four year old Louis enters school for the first time, a two year old Harry is left to cope with the separation of his long time best mate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Birds In A Nest

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy!

Rain drizzled and tapped the glass with a steady pitter-patter as Harry leaned against the frame, drawing shapes into the temporary fog caused by the heat of his breath on the pane.

Squinting one eye closed he held a finger in the air, trying to decipher the time from the old analogue clock on the mantle.  Huffing, he bounced down from the cushions and trotted into the kitchen.

“Mum, what time is it?”

The woman smiled, taking her glasses off and idly rubbing the bridge of her nose.  “Darling, I’ll let you know when it’s three o’clock. Until then, why don’t you find something to do? Grab a toy from your room.”

Harry blinked his wide green eyes. “You promise you’ll come get me?”

 

The woman nodded, smiling again at her son’s determination.  “The moment that clock hits three.”

Harry smiled a wide smile that proudly presented each small white tooth- except for the one missing at the front.  “Thanks, mum.”

—

The Styles and the Tomlinsons have been friends and neighbours since before either woman would like to think back to.  Yes, the two women were sisters in adulthood, sharing life’s experiences.  It was no surprise that motherhood should be included in that list. What was surprising, however, was the bond their sons came to share.

“Would you like to hold him, Louis?”

“Me? Really?” Louis blinked.

“Of course, here, come.” Anne showed the boy how to hold his arms, how to support the head, “You’re a natural, Louis!” She placed the baby, swaddled in sky colored cloth, into his arms. “He’s so light!” Louis giggled.

 The women watched on silently, holding each other, wiping away tears, as the young boy gently rocked Harry back and forth in his arms. “His hair’s so curly, mum! Do you see it? Full head of curls and he’s only just been born. Isn’t that amazing, mum?”

Jay nodded, voice barley quivering as she spoke. “Yes, Louis.  He’s one of a kind.”

Louis looks up to the two mothers, eyes filled with light, “When do you think he’ll be old enough to play with me?”

—

It wasn’t always hard, but that’s certainly how it began.

Harry was almost three years old- “Two and a half and a little bit more!” to be exact- things were beginning to change.  With the arrival of the September rain, a new school year had also come around. Louis began attending day classes for the first time, while Harry remained at home one playmate short.

 The two missed each other sorely, although Louis, who was faced with the distraction of new people, places, and things, was able to take the temporary separation in stride. The time was not so easily passed for Harry.

The week came to a rough start one damp Monday morning. Harry began his usual early time routine, bounding out of bed with the energy only a child could muster, climbing his white stool to position himself in front of the bathroom mirror, brushing his curls back into a presentable mess, and filling his belly with some pastel colored sugar cereal.

The boy ran to the door, sliding into yellow rain boots and fishing the familiar green plastic bucket from the closet. The green bucket was the frog bucket, because on rainy days Louis liked to catch frogs, chasing them through the garden before temporarily relocating them to the frog bucket. Harry didn’t really like to touch them, or he didn’t even really like frogs at all, but Louis did.

It was then that Anne peaked her head around the corner, “Sweetie? Where are you going?”

“To get Louis! It’s raining!” he announced proudly.

The woman frowned.  “Honey, I told you already, remember? Louis is at school this week.”

“Oh, yeah..” Harry said, plopping down on his bottom. “You could play outside by yourself for a little while, maybe Louis will be home by then.” Anne suggested.

“It’s not fun alone, Mum.” The boy said, sounding entirely defeated. He kicked off the rubber boots, sending them flying.

Harry sat at the door, hunched over, face to the floor. It wasn’t before Anne heard small sniffles and sobs did she look up from the table once more. “Harry? Are you crying?” She stood, approaching the boy and lifting him into her arms. “What’s the matter, honey? Louis won’t be gone forever, you know.”

 He sobbed. Wrapping his small arms around her neck and dropping his head to her shoulder.

“There, there, Harry. He’ll be home by tea time.” She said soothingly, rubbing his back.

Anne lowered the young boy to the couch cushions. “Now, you sit and take a breather. Why don’t I put on a film for you, hm?” Harry nodded, rubbing his glassy emerald eyes with balled fists.

The boy sat in the dark, covered in blankets from the waist down while idly munching animal crackers  and humming the songs to the Disney movies he’s seen a thousand times. Gemma always teased him about having most of Cinderella memorized, but he didn’t mind.  

Before Harry knew it, it was almost supper time.

“Harry!” Anne called. “Can you come over here for a moment?” He slid off the couch, placing his dinosaur bowl on the table and dragging his feet across the room, blanket still hanging off his waist. Rounding the corner, Harry almost didn’t notice who was before him. Peeling his eyes off the floor Harry looked up, greeted with sapphire. “Hiya, Harry!”

The boy light up like Christmas, smiling from ear to ear as his cheeks turned cherry. “Hiii, Lou.” He said softly.

“Come on! I’ve got so much to show you, school’s so fun, Harry!” Louis grabbed his friend’s hand, pulling him along to the kitchen table while Anne giggled softly behind the two.

Climbing the chairs, Lou dumped most of his bag on the table, speaking in rapid fire the whole time. He placed crayon drawings of this and that before his friend, connect the dots, name the animal, each sheet of paper replaced by another before Harry had even made sense of the previous.  He sat and listened to his friend, hands in his lap, swaying back and forth with what must have been a record breaking smile.

The last sheet Louis pulled out of his Spiderman backpack was slightly bigger than the rest. It was an off white canvas that made crinkly noises when bent. Louis placed it in the middle of the boys.

A suburban sprawl lay on the paper, painted in acrylic colors, and clearly done by finger. “My teacher said to paint a picture of ourselves” Louis shrugged, lowering his voice to a tone that sounded almost shy, which couldn’t be true. Louis Tomlinson didn’t do shy. Not even at age four. “But I can’t paint people so I painted this instead.”

A row of houses sat proudly at the top of a rolling green hill, sunshine radiating from behind. Two houses in particular were enlarged, as if focused upon. Louis pointed to the left larger house. “This one’s mine.” Harry nodded in agreement, as if Louis’ artistic abilities made that obvious to anyone who looked. The boy hesitated a moment, finger hovering over the right larger house. “And this one is yours.” Louis finally announced.  He looked to his friend, waiting for a reaction.

“That one’s mine?” Harry blinked. “Yeah.” Louis confirmed softly. The boy shrugged, looking to the floor and wiggling his toes. “I didn’t really know what else to draw so. You can keep it I guess.” He swung his bare feet back and forth, voice low. “If you want to, anyway. I mean it’s not that good I just wanted to show you.”

Harry looked to his friend, smiling his trademark half smile. The one that only exposed his two front teeth.

“That’s lovely, Louis, We’ll put it on the fridge.” Anne spoke, turning from her position at the kitchen counter to take the page. “No! I want to put it in my room, Mum.”

Louis’ eyes glowed as he finally looked back to his friend “Really?!” Harry nodded furiously up and down, picking up the page, smiling still, as he jumped from the chair and ran for the stairs.

—

The days to come after Monday weren’t so bad. Harry no longer sprang from bed as quickly as he did in previous months, but he didn’t cry quite as much as he did that first morning either.

There was still the odd tear, especially on rainy days when the frog bucket sat by the door nestled between those yellow rubber boots, waiting. Harry made lists of things to do when Louis got home, all drawn up in blue crayon. “Pay ball.  ~~Colluct~~   ~~colet~~   ~~collekt~~  find frogs. Puzzels. Watch  ~~moveis~~  films.”

Fridays were especially exciting. Each boy would take turns hosting a sleepover in which activities lasted well into the night- almost 9:30 on particularly long occasions. Many times Anne or Jay would order pizza for dinner, each boy allowed as many as two whole slices.

Most Friday’s ended relatively similar. Anne giggled, snapping a quick photo. “Can you believe these boys?” The message to Jay read. Thumbing open the attachment revealed the boys fast asleep, Harry leaned against Louis, his head on the boy’s shoulder.

Yes, times were changing, but for the better. It was still just the beginning, after all, and it wasn’t always easy, but that’s certainly how it ended.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think!


End file.
